“These funds are not drawn from property taxes,” a county spokesperson said.
PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Pinellas County responded to a statement by Governor Ron DeSantis on social media from the state’s so-called “Department of Government Efficiency.” The government “task force,” led by Blaise Ingoglia, the state’s chief financial officer, claims that some local governments in Florida have been engaging in “uncovered instances of reckless spending and woke initiatives.”
Among the claims of “irresponsible spending” posted Thursday on X, the state said that Pinellas County spent “$75,000 every year to sponsor annual ‘Pride’ festival,” and added that St. Petersburg used $258,000 from utilities and emergency service funds to support Pride events.
Pinellas County told 10 Tampa Bay News that the funds were not taken from property taxes.
“The Pride event is part of the County’s Elite Event Funding Program, which solely utilizes Tourist Development Tax (hotel bed tax) funds, paid by overnight visitors to Pinellas County,” a Pinellas County spokesperson said. “These funds are not drawn from property taxes and state Statute requires that Tourist Development Tax funds be used to promote our County as a destination to potential visitors and invest in activities that drive visitation and the associated economic impact to Pinellas County.”
The county spokesperson added that investing in events like Pride has drawn hundreds of thousands of people to use “tens of thousands of room nights, and tens of millions of direct economic impact” to the local businesses in the area.
St. Pete did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to Florida Politics, officials said in a statement on Thursday that the DOGE claims needed context, adding that the state had arrived at the figure by combining numbers from two fiscal years St. Pete officials “assumed.”
Claims by Ingoglia’s team at the Florida DOGE also criticized expenditures from other cities, including Jacksonville, Pensacola, Gainesville and Orlando, as well as counties like Hillsborough, Orange, Alachua and Broward.
In most cases, the claims were critical of investments in diversity, equity, inclusion and green energy initiatives.
The infographic in the social media post stated, too, that “Florida has reduced spending” since 2019.
According to the governor’s website, Florida’s budget for fiscal year 2025–2026 totals $117.4 billion, while the fiscal year 2019-2020 budget was $90.98 billion.
Florida DOGE teams alongside @CFOIngoglia have been investigating cities and counties where taxpayers have raised concerns about wasteful spending.
These audits have uncovered many irresponsible uses of taxpayer funds. It’s unconscionable for local governments to raise taxes on… pic.twitter.com/Ol8VlOvNEs
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) October 1, 2025
When Ingoglia visited St. Pete earlier this summer, Ingoglia said his team was going to look into spending by municipalities and counties in Florida, but declined to provide specifics regarding which programs he was looking into, local news organizations reported.